The invention relates to a widemouth open topped steel drum of conical shape, having a large filling and emptying opening defined by a rolled rim formed at the upper end of the sidewall of the drum. The drum is capable of being closed, in liquid-tight condition, by means of a lid and a tension ring. The sidewall of the drum, in the zone near the open top, has an encircling outwardly directed stacking bead which, upon nesting of two or more empty steel drums, serves as an outer ledge for the upper nested drum for seating on the top rim of the drum beneath.
Such drums or similar vessels of large volume are generally known. Widemouthed drums of conical shape have the advantage that they can be nested empty, and thus stored and transported in large quantities at low cost.
In the transport of stacked drums, they may sometimes be shaken down one into another so hard that subsequent unstacking or separation of the several drums presents great problems and requires the exertions of at least two people. Often, for example, the rolled-out flange or lid rim of the stacked drum have to be hit with a hammer in order to separate two drums wedged together. In the course of such time-consuming and personnel-intensive efforts, the body of the vessel or the rim of the filling opening may easily be damaged, with subsequent leakage as the result.